







.v 








^' ^, 





"a 9 





r -*<? 



^ 



4> °c 








,AN^/U C 




^■>- 







$ ^. 







■ . 



& ... 



& . . • 





' \Y e O « ^ 

V /4vi;-\ /via 











°* v > 













Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/suggestionstoteaOOgarr 



SUGGESTIONS 



TO 



TEACHERS OF GEOGRAPHY 



BY 



CARL L. GARRISON 

PRINCIPAL OF THOMAS P. MORGAN SCHOOL 
WASHINGTON, D.C. 



:>X*c 



NEW YORK •:• CINCINNATI •:• CHICAGO 

AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 



The Natural 

Geographies 



By Jacques W . Redway, and Russell Hinman, Author ol 
the "Eclectic Physical Geography." 

Natural Elementary Geography. Price, 60 cents 
Natural Advanced Geography. Price, $1.25 

Natural Brief Geography. Price, 80 cents 

The publication of The Natural Geographies marked anew era in th« 
study and teaching of geography. Some of the distinctive features which 
characterize this new series are: 

1. A Natural Plan of Development based on physical geography and lead- 

ing in a natural manner to the study of historical, industrial and 
commercial geography. 

2. Clear and distinct political maps showing correctly the comparative size 

of different countries, and physical maps showing relief by contoui 
lines and different colors, as in the best government maps. 

3. Inductive and comparative treatment of subjects according to the most 

approved pedagogical principles. 

4. Frequent exercises and reviews leading to the correlation and comparison 

of the parts of the subject already studied. 

5 # Supplementary Exercises including laboratory work and references foi 
collateral reading. 

6* Numerous original and appropriate pictures and graphic diagrams to il- 
lustrate the text. 

7. Strict accordance, in method and treatment, with the recommendations 
of the Committee of Fifteen. 



AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 



SUGGESTIONS 



TO 



TEACHERS OF GEOGRAPHY 



BY 



CARL L. GARRISON 

PRINCIPAL OK THOMAS P. MORGAN SCHOOL 
WASHINGTON, D.C. 



5>©<C 



NEW YORK •:• CINCINNATI • •• CHICAGO 

AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 



^ 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

•JAN 29 1906 
Copyright Entry 

LASS Ou XXc, No 

/ 3 S~/ ?L 

COPY B. 



/ 



Copyright, 1906, by 
CARL L. GARRISON. 



SUGGESTIONS TO 
TEACHERS OF GEOGRAPHY. 



SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS OF 
GEOGRAPHY 

The Text-book 

Too much stress can hardly be laid upon the 
necessity of basing the study of geography upon 
what the pupil has actually observed. This 
does not imply that a large portion of the time 
devoted to this subject is to be spent in the field 
with the class, though occasional field lessons 
are very valuable ; but it does mean that the 
pupil must be made to realize that much with 
which he is familiar in his own neighborhood is 
geography, and that the subject he is studying 
deals with the same order of things in neigh- 
borhoods with which he is not familiar. Before 
assigning a lesson in the text-book, the teacher 
should get and keep the attention of the children 
on its important features by appealing to con- 
crete examples (note, p. 22 of this manual). If 
for any reason observation of the real thing is 



4 ELEMENTARY GEOGRAPHY 

absolutely impossible, then the teacher should 
use pictures and give explanations before hav- 
ing the text read (note, p. 23 of this manual). 

The teacher must also remember that when 
children advance from a low grade, say the sec- 
ond or third, in which every reading lesson has 
been a prepared-for and studied effort, it is yet 
very difficult for them to read at all, and still 
more so for them to get, at the same time, a 
clear understanding of what they are reading. 
Therefore, if for this reason only, she should 
give each lesson orally first and then have all 
new words written on the blackboard and made 
a part of the children's vocabulary before the text- 
book lesson on the same subject is read or studied. 

Because of much that has been written and 
said in the last few years on the advantages of 
" oral lessons," " freedom from the text-book," 
etc., many teachers have the impression that 
the text-book should neither be followed nor 
studied. They seem to think that the use of a 
text-book leads only to memoriter work. This 
is a grave mistake. The teacher who would 
permit memoriter work with a text-book would, 



THE TEXT-BOOK 5 

in all probability, get even poorer results from 
mere oral work. A text-book properly used is 
of great value to both teacher and pupil, — it 
is a time saver to both, and it trains the pupil 
in the art of reading ; that is, the gathering of 
thought from the printed page. The secret in 
the proper use of a text-book is that the teacher 
should know what is in it without referring to 
it in class, and should prepare the pupils 
properly for the study of each lesson. The 
field or oral lesson, and the drill on the new 
words in the lesson, should be the preparation 
for the use of the text-book in geography. 

Though you should know what is in the book, 
you should not give field or other oral lessons in 
such words or exactly in such order that chil- 
dren will find text-book study unnecessary. The 
object of the preliminary lesson is to pave the 
way for a better understanding of the printed 
page, but not to do away with its use. 

Children should very early be made to realize 
that the text-book contains valuable informa- 
tion, and they should be taught how to get that 
information from its pages. 



6 ELEMENTARY GEOGRAPHY 

After any lesson has been given orally, and 
certain important facts in it have been summed 
up by the children and particularly dwelt on, 
then, on the next day for instance, the teacher 
should use the book and have the lesson read, 
stopping after each paragraph to question for 
the particular thought or thoughts contained 
in it. Then at the end of the reading lesson 
she should have a number of children tell, each 
in his own words, the gist of the whole lesson ; 
but find no fault if the pupils use the words of 
the text, provided the sense of the matter is 
manifestly understood. 

With pupils who are just beginning the use 
of a text-book the teacher will do well to study 
each lesson from the text-book in this way 
instead of assigning lessons to be learned by 
them. Help of this kind is much more likely to 
lead young children to right methods of study 
than is any amount of learning a lesson "by 
heart" or of poring over it by themselves. 

The power to make intelligent study of the 
text and the habit of concentration which is 
created by this kind of work are invaluable. 



THE CARDINAL DIRECTIONS 7 

The Cardinal Directions 

All pupils, if they are to comprehend and 
enjoy geography, should very early have a 
thorough knowledge of the four cardinal direc- 
tions, and should be able to apply this knowl- 
edge ; that is, to orient themselves wherever 
they are. 

It is amazing how few children, indeed how 
few grown people, have anything but a vague 
notion of which side of the street they live on, 
which way their houses face, in which direction 
the church or schoolhouse is from them, in which 
direction they travel to reach a near city or town ; 
or can comprehend to put into execution such a 
direction as the following : "Go south from the 
school two blocks, and then turn to the east 
and go one block." 

Having developed (in an oral lesson) the 
approximate directions east and west from the 
place of the sun, morning and afternoon, in 
relation to the schoolroom (Lesson 1, p. 5, 
Natural Elementary Geography), give much drill 
(before the pupils read from the text) both in 



8 ELEMENTARY GEOGRAPHY 

the schoolroom and out of it, until every child 
is sure of the general directions east and west. 
Let children move to different parts of the 
room and say : ".I am standing on the east 
side of the room. I am facing the west." " I 
am standing on the west side of the room. 
My back is toward the west. My face is toward 
the east." Children are apt, if they always 
point to a direction from one position in the 
schoolroom, to think that the direction is al- 
ways on their right or directly in front, etc. 
Take them to a school hall and let them tell 
which direction is east and which west. Take 
them out of doors on a sunny morning and 
have them point to the east, and tell how they 
know it is east ; to the west and give the reason 
for its being west. 

When north and south have been developed 
(p. 8, Nat. El. Geog.), take several days for 
drill. Many such questions as the following 
will be found profitable : — 

" On which side of the room is the clock ? 
The map ? The teacher's desk ? The window 
box ? " In the street, ask : " In which direction 



THE CARDINAL DIRECTIONS 9 

from us is the church spire ? The tall building ? 
The large elm tree ? " " Point to the east ; the 
south," etc. Have each child tell on which 
side of the street his house is ; how it faces ; 
in which direction he walks to come to school ; 
to go home ; on which side of his house the 
sun shines in the morning, in the afternoon. 
Directions from the teacher such as, " Go to 
the blackboard on the east side of the room " ; 
" Recite the poem from the north side of the 
room " ; " Go out by the south door," etc., make 
the subject practical. Directions of this sort, 
written on the board and obeyed in silence, are 
good, and sentences written on paper in answer 
to questions on the board form good seat work 
in language. 

Drive a tall stick vertically into the school- 
yard and notice the direction of the shadow it 
casts at exactly midday. Take observations 
every day for a few days to see if its shadow 
points at noon always the same way. It is 
important to remember that the shadow of 
the stick may not point north if the stick is not 
vertical. After this test it once a week and 



10 ELEMENTARY GEOGRAPHY 

mark the length of the shadow. Record the 
weekly variation in length on the blackboard or 
in notebooks. 

So many children leave school at the end of 
the fourth year (statistics show that between 
one third and one half leave before the begin- 
ning of the fifth year) that it is most desirable 
to give them (indeed it seems unfair not to give 
them) some definite, if slight, knowledge of the 
world as a whole — enough, at least, to whet 
their curiosity. 

The so-called "home geography," when it 
goes beyond the limits of what the child can 
actually see, is neither home geography nor 
observational geography, and is not easier for 
him to comprehend than is the fact that the 
earth on which he lives is a great round ball, 
similar in shape to the sun and moon whose 
shape he can actually see. 

The Development of the Idea of a Continent 

Every child is interested in stories of travel, 
and almost every child has been on a railroad 
train long enough to appreciate what a journey 



THE AMERICAN CONTINENT n 

is; therefore the idea of a continent is best 
developed by stories of travel from home for 
many days, in the various directions (Les- 
sons 2, 3, 4, 5, Nat. El. Geog.). Pictures and 
discussions of them will add very much to the 
interest and enthusiasm, and children should be 
encouraged to talk of their own experiences in 
traveling. 

This is the time to introduce a very simple 
map of the continent of America. The map is 
not intended to cover a wider field than to show 
the shape of the continent and to give the points 
of the compass in relation to it. 

It is a good plan to make, on large sheets of 
brown paper pasted together, a much-enlarged 
copy of the map on page io of the Nat. El. 
Geog. and to use it first by spreading it on the 
floor, or better on the schoolyard, with its top 
to the north. Put a cross on it at about the 
place which is home, and have, with the chil- 
dren gathered about it and looking down on it, 
a quick, bright review of the preceding lessons 
— of what they would see in traveling east, 
west, north, and south. At the close of the 



12 ELEMENTARY GEOGRAPHY 

talk dwell particularly on the great size of the 
country represented on the map, and on the fact 
that after longer or shorter travel in any direc- 
tion one would come to the ocean. When the 
map is hung, put it on the wall (the nortJi wall) 
almost on a level with the children's eyes, and 
drill on the relative points of the compass in 
regard to it. 

All new forms, such as island, ist/i/nns, grand 
division, should be taught by means of the 
reality, the sand board, and pictures, never by 
having the definition in the book learned first. 
But when reading Lesson 5, Nat. EL Geog., for 
island and isthmus and grand division, ask such 
questions as : " What did we find that an island 
is? " Ans. "An island is a small body of land 
surrounded by water," or, "An island is a small 
body of land with water all around it." " What 
does your geography say an island is ? " Ans. 
" Smaller masses of land surrounded by water 
are called islands," etc. 

In this way children are taught to use their 
text-books for comparison, for refreshing their 
memories if the definition of the field or sand- 



THE EASTERN CONTINENT 13 

board lesson begins to fade, and for study in 
preparing for reviews. 

Across the Sea to the East 

The voyage of a ship from North America to 
the Eastern Continent (Lesson 6, Nat. El. Geog.) 
should be traced on a globe, not on a flat map. 
Additional anecdotes of life at sea make the 
lesson very interesting, and the use of the globe, 
though no special stress is placed on its shape, 
leads the child unconsciously to see that the 
earth is round like a ball. 

If a large globe is not available, get and use 
the small inexpensive globes (25^). If neither 
can be had, cut out tiny representations of the 
continents and paste them on balls or pin them 
to apples or oranges, for it is essential that this 
teaching be from ball-shaped bodies. 

Our Interest in the Eastern Continent 

The Eastern Continent should have an inter- 
est for all the children because their ancestors 
at some time crossed the Atlantic to make their 
homes here. Some may have come themselves ; 



14 ELEMENTARY GEOGRAPHY 

others have heard the story from their parents, 
and others still have an ancestry for several 
generations here, — but at some time their 
ancestors crossed the ocean and landed in 
America. Questions should be asked of indi- 
vidual members of the class to bring to their 
knowledge this one fact. 

To give some idea of the vast space covered 
by the waters of the ocean, read to the class 
some vivid but simple description of an ocean 
voyage. (See Carpenter's Europe, beginning at 
page 12.) 

The story of Columbus may be made one of 
much interest and excitement by pictures, by 
accounts of the general belief at that time that 
the earth was flat ; of Columbus's idea ; of his 
efforts to get money ; the fitting out of the 
ship ; the voyage ; the fear of the sailors that 
the ship would come to an edge and fall off ; 
the discovery of land ; the meeting with the 
Indians ; Columbus's belief that he had reached 
the eastern side of the Eastern Continent; the 
return home; the change of idea concerning 
the shape of the earth. 



THE RACES OF MANKIND 15 

[Such lessons as this one and Lessons 22-23 
of the Nat. El. Geog. are invaluable for correla- 
tion with the history work of the grade and 
should be used as reading lessons when the 
appropriate parts of the history are reached.] 

Homes of the Races of Mankind 

The questions at the beginning of Lesson 9, 
p. 13, Nat. El. Geog., give the keynote to the 
lesson, which is to develop the idea of the races 
from what the child knows. 

Almost every child in the country has seen 
either negroes, or Chinamen, or Indians. With 
aTlittle help the pupils can tell some of the 
distinguishing characteristics of the features 
of all of these people. As each of the races is 
talked of by the children show the original 
home of that race on a globe, and let the chil- 
dren tell what large bodies of water were 
crossed to reach America. Pictures of Malays 
should be shown and talked about. Use the 
illustrations to make comparisons. Let the 
reading of the lesson follow the talk. 



16 ELEMENTARY GEOGRAPHY 

The Shape of the Earth 

Follow the story of Columbus with the story 
of Magellan, whose ship sailed all the way 
round the earth, and lead, globe in hand, to the 
statement that the earth is round like a ball 
(Lesson n, p. 16, Nat. El. Geog.). This will 
lead to a discussion of why we do not see that 
it is round, and to the explanation that we see 
too small a part of it at one time. 

Cut out a round hole about as big as this O i n 
a large sheet of stiff writing paper, and place 
the paper on an orange or small globe, so that 
the only part of the orange that can be seen 
is the part that shows through the hole. 
This small part of the orange or globe is 
too small to show its curvature, but it repre- 
sents much larger proportions of the orange 
than we can ever see of the earth at one 
time. 

We can not see from where we are that the 
land ends to the north, to the east, to the west, 
and to the south of us, but we believe it because 
many people have been to the places where it 



ROTATION OF THE EARTH 17 

ends ; and we know that the earth is round be- 
cause, many people have sailed round it. 

The Turning of the Earth on its Axis 

An experiment such as is suggested in Lesson 
12, p. 17, Nat. El. Geog., is a very valuable exer- 
cise. There is an excitement about darkening 
the schoolroom, lighting a candle, and twirling 
a globe or an apple round to get light or 
shadow which causes children to remember, 
and they are learning for the first time that 
it is the earth and not the sun that moves. If 
each child will bring an apple or orange and 
a knitting needle or long hat pin, the develop- 
ment of the terms " north pole " and " south pole " 
will be easy. Have each child scratch a line 
for the equator. Then, with globe (orange or 
apple) in hand, many children can tell the story 
in whole or in part : — 

" The earth is round like my orange. I put 
a hat pin through the orange to represent the 
axis of the earth. The earth turns round on its 
axis as my orange turns on the hat pin. One 
half of the orange is lighted at one time by the 



1 8 ELEMENTARY GEOGRAPHY 

candle, while the other half is dark. I turn the 
orange on the hat pin and the other half of the 
orange comes slowly into the light. One half 
of the earth is lighted at one time by the sun. 
The earth turns on its axis and the dark part 
is brought into the light. The places where the 
hat pin goes into and comes out of the orange 
represent the poles of the earth. There is 
nothing really stuck through the earth like a 
hat pin. The earth's axis is only an imaginary 
line. The poles are the ends of the axis. Half- 
way between the places where the hat pin goes 
into and comes out of the orange I have 
scratched a line. We imagine such a line to 
be drawn round the earth halfway between the 
poles. This line is called the equator." 

These statements will come at first disjoint- 
edly and only in answer to many questions. No 
better lesson can be given either in oral or 
written language than this drill in expression. 
Clearness and adequateness are cardinal virtues 
in composition. 



THE ZONES 19 

The Zones 

If directions on page 9 of this manual have 
been followed and children have watched and 
recorded the changes in the length of the mid- 
day shadow, the subject of zones (Lesson 13, p. 
18, Nat. EL Geog.) will not be too difficult for 
them to comprehend. 

In summer the shadows at noon are very 
short, and the days are very warm. In winter 
the shadows are very much longer, and the days 
are cold. There are parts of the earth just 
north and south of the equator where the 
shadows at noon are never so long as they 
are where we live, which means that the sun 
at noon is always very high overhead. There 
the weather is always warm. This region is 
called the Torrid Zone, or hot zone. We live so 
far north of the equator that the sun never shines 
directly over our heads. Our shadows even in 
midsummer fall a little to the north of us. 

The teacher of young children must be care- 
ful to present the subject of zones very simply, 
or children will be confused. It is much better to 



20 ELEMENTARY GEOGRAPHY 

say nothing at all of the inclination of the axis 
of the earth or of the earth's orbit, but to de- 
velop the subject with little children entirely on 
the position of the sun at midday. And it 
is very advisable to mark the shadows at noon 
through the season, and to keep a record of the 
change of season with the increase and decrease 
of the length of the shadow, and to review the 
subject frequently. By the end of the school 
year the subject will be clear, and children will 
know that which is most important in this con- 
nection, — to connect long shadows, low sun 
at midday, with winter and cold weather ; and 
short shadows, high sun at midday, with sum- 
mer and heat. 

The Scale of Maps 

A part of the home geography of the third 
grade is usually to draw a plan of the school- 
room and then of the street on which the school 
building is situated, establishing the points of 
the compass, but not drawing to a scale, so that 
when the child begins to use the text-book, the 
beginnings of map making and map reading are 



THE SCALE OF MAPS 21 

not entirely new. If this has not been done, it 
should be done before the more difficult task of 
drawing to a scale is attempted. Of course the 
object of the scale drawing (Lesson 14, p. 20, 
Nat. EL Geog.) is the better reading and the 
understanding of the map on page 22 and all 
following maps, where the scale is given as 
the number of miles stated to the length of the 
horizontal line shown. 

Interesting experiments and conversation 
lessons may be given on the length of time it 
takes to travel a hundred or a thousand miles in 
the cars, of the distance across the continent, 
of the time it takes to go across, etc. Measure 
the distance from about the region of home 
to the Arctic — Atlantic — Pacific oceans. Let 
each child cut a strip of paper the length of 
the horizontal line and tell the number of miles 
and about how long it would take to go from 
certain points to certain other points, until the 
idea of what the scale of miles on a map really 
means is clear. By means of this work, too, the 
child is getting a better conception of the great 
extent of country represented on a map. 



22 ELEMENTARY GEOGRAPHY 

A very good correlation with arithmetic can 
be made here. A. Take ten steps. Measure. 
How long, then, is your stride ? B. Count your 
steps when you come to school. How far is 
your home from school ? etc. 

Field Work 

In all study of natural features, particularly of 
such simple features as kill, valley, stream (Les- 
son 15, p. 21, Nat. El. Geog.\ the teacher should, 
if possible, take the class to see real examples — 
of course, after visiting them herself beforehand. 1 

1 For instance, I wish to teach the forms of land and water. 
My first lesson will be in the city park. At the gate I say : " I 
want to go to the lake. Shall I go downhill or uphill ? Why ? " 
The children assure me that I will find the lake " Down there." 
As we approach the lake, " Who can find two kinds of edges to 
the land along the lake? " They find a grassy edge and a sandy 
edge. I teach shore. " If it were to rain, which shore would 
wash away into the lake the more quickly ? Why ? What is 
the most level surface here? " They look about, perhaps experi- 
ment, and find that it is the surface of the water. That is truly 
level. We find a rocky gutter, and decide that the water is 
"hurrying to get level." We go down a slope, and up a slope. 
We find a " cunning little plateau " with a summer house on it, 
and sitting on the grass at a proper distance, we sketch its pro- 
file. If the class is large, say fifty or more, it is best to take 
half of them at a time on such an excursion, leaving the other 



FIELD WORK 23 

It is an excellent plan to take along pencils 
and drawing paper and to sketch simple out- 
lines, as of the profiles of hills and slopes of 
valleys, and to make simple plans or maps of 
the windings of small streams. 

This may be done by looking down on some 
small field stream, which may perhaps be seen 
from its source, a few feet away, to its mouth, a 
near gutter or ditch, or by standing on a bridge 
and looking down on the windings of a larger 
stream. 

Take the sketches back to school and make 
on the sand board a reproduction in relief on a 
small scale of what you have seen. 

Have also pictures of a number of hills, 
valleys, and streams, and encourage children to 
bring other pictures to school. Also find in the 
geography pictures which represent the same 
features, and model some of these. 1 

half in care of the principal, and to get one mother or older 
sister to go along. Go beforehand to the place of the lesson 
and settle definitely what you mean to teach. Material for a 
fortnight's class-room work can be gathered in one excursion. 

1 Pictures should be thoroughly discussed in class. For in- 
stance, on page 25 of the Nat. EL Geog. are two pictures. 



24 ELEMENTARY GEOGRAPHY 

North America 

Before the United States is studied, North 
America should be taken as a whole (pp. 23-31, 
Nat. EL Geog.\ and preceding each day's lesson 
a few minutes' work from the globe will serve to 
keep before the children the facts of the shape 
of the earth, the relative position of North 
America with respect to the other grand divi- 
sions, and the cold, hot, and temperate parts of 
North America. Slip in every day a bit of review 
to establish firmly what has been learned in 
introductory lessons, but which will soon fade 
from young minds unless constantly kept before 
them. Make this review short and sharp ; do 

" Put your pencil on the highest point of land in the upper 
picture. On another peak. Can you find another peak ? 
Do you find any such peaks in the lower picture ? Go to the 
board (ten children) and draw a mountain peak. In the lower 
picture find a house with a ridge along the top. Draw your 
pencil along the ridge. Could you walk on such a ridge? Look 
out of the window. Have the houses near us ridges? Find a 
ridge of mountains in one of the pictures. Draw your pencil 
from the top of the mountain ridge down one slope. Can you 
see the other slope ? In this dish of sand make a mountain ridge. 
Put your hand on one slope ; on the opposite slope," etc. 



NORTH AMERICA 25 

not allow the class to dawdle over it, or to 
wander from the point, but vary your own 
method of review and style of questioning and 
so prevent stereotyped answers that become 
merely memoriter work. The interest of pupils 
is maintained and vagueness of impressions is 
avoided by keeping closely to the line of work 
laid out, and by making the exercise brisk and 
to the point. 

It must be kept in mind by the teacher that 
the text between pages 23 and 31 contains many 
new words and many new ideas and unless 
made interesting will be difficult and at first 
almost impossible to remember. Therefore 
teach little at a time, but pick out the salient 
features and embellish with illustrations and 
observation lessons. The fact that new fea- 
tures and definitions are not introduced until 
they are needed (Lessons 16-21), and then are 
brought up in connection with a specific sub- 
ject and map, makes comparatively easy what 
has hitherto been extremely difficult to teach 
because absolutely uninteresting to young 
children. 



26 ELEMENTARY GEOGRAPHY 

The frequent sketching of the map of North 
America adds much to the child's knowledge of 
its shape, as it must become impressed on his 
mind by the close study of the outline which he 
makes in copying. 

A simple river system modeled in putty or 
even clay, with a shower of water poured 
upon it from a small watering pot, may show 
very clearly how all streams flow toward a big 
one, and so out to the ocean. 

In many cases children may see within a 
short walking distance from school some of the 
features taught in these pages, — a ridge or 
range of hills, mountain, plain, plateau, a 
river system (formed in miniature in any 
sloping land by any shower), divide, spring, lake. 
Of course all of these natural features can not 
be observed by all schools, but some of them 
may be seen by many of the schools. Teach what 
can not be seen in the field by pictures and the 
sand board. When teaching from pictures, be 
sure to ask questions to find what the children 
see. You will be amazed at the misconceptions 
thus disclosed. 



NORTH AMERICA 2 J 

Even if a hill or a mountain or a spring has 
been before children as a part of the landscape 
for several years, this fact is no guarantee that 
any child has really seen it. The power of 
observation is natural to but few, but can be 
developed by proper teaching. Any one of 
these natural features will become of vital 
interest to the children when looked at under 
right guidance and in connection with what the 
text-book says about it and what the teacher can 
explain about it. 

When the study of the text on North Amer- 
ica is finished, the class should know definitely 
the most important and largest features of the 
grand division, — that is, its zones and large 
variations of climate from north to south, its 
great water boundaries, its relative location on 
the globe, its largest bays and gulfs and neigh- 
boring islands, its important lowlands, mountain 
chains, and drainage systems, — and the children 
should be able to make a fairly accurate rough 
sketch of its outline, and to put in the Rocky 
and Appalachian mountains and the larger 
rivers. 



28 ELEMENTARY GEOGRAPHY 

Below is a list of the names of natural 
features which pupils at this time should be 
able to pronounce, spell, and locate on their 
maps of North America : — 

Bays, Gulfs, Seas 

Hudson Bay Caribbean Sea 

Gulf of St. Lawrence Baffin Bay 

Gulf of Mexico Davis Strait 

Gulf of California Bering Sea 

Peninsulas, Islands 

Nova Scotia Greenland 

Florida Newfoundland 

Yucatan West Indies 

Lower California Vancouver 

Mountains, Rivers 

Rocky Ohio 

Appalachian Rio Grande 

Cascade St. Lawrence 

Sierra Nevada Saskatchewan 

Mississippi Mackenzie 

Missouri Yukon 



THE UNITED STATES 29 

Definite knowledge of the location of these im- 
portant features is the best possible preparation 
for the more detailed study of the United States. 

The Study of the United States 

In their study of the United States, young 
children should not be plunged into a mass of 
detail which they are in no way fitted to receive, 
to understand, or to assimilate. 

Keep to essential and characteristic features 
of sections, whether in studying natural features 
and resources or in studying industries and 
products. The memorizing of facts as such 
without the power to use them for correlation and 
comparison is almost time wasted, but facts in 
such relation as a child can comprehend form an 
invaluable storehouse from which to draw, and 
are a great incentive to further investigation. 

The study of such a map as the rainfall map 
on page 40, Nat. EL Geog., and the correlation 
with it of the maps on pages 42, 46, and 54, is 
very valuable work. 

The boundaries of states simply as such and 
the location of capitals are, at this time, not of 



30 ELEMENTARY GEOGRAPHY 

sufficient importance to spend very much time 
on, but it is necessary that children know defi- 
nitely what states are grouped in each section 
and the relative situation of the sections. 

Much reference to the map when the text is 
being studied, much map drawing, and many 
five-minute periods of review map lessons serve 
to stamp essentials indelibly on the child's mind. 

Be particular always to get correct pronunci- 
ation and spelling of geographic names. 

Heat and Rainfall 

The question of where rain comes from is a 
difficult one for children to comprehend, but 
they may make some simple experiments that 
will help to render the subject somewhat clearer 
(Lesson 27, p. 38, Nat. EL Geog.). 

Boil some water in a rather shallow pan and 
watch the " steam " rise. Hold a piece of cold 
glass (a broken pane will answer) near the 
steam and notice how wet the glass is. " Where 
did the water on it come from ? " Let the 
water in the pan boil until it has nearly all 
passed off in steam. What has become of the 



SECTIONS OF THE UNITED STATES 31 

water ? Set a shallow pan with some water in 
it out in the sun and notice that the water grad- 
ually disappears. The sun has made the water 
disappear as the fire did, but more slowly, and 
the vapor has gone into the air. Hang a wet 
cloth in the room and notice how soon it is dry. 
The water from it has passed as vapor into the 
air. Think of the many springs, and rivers, 
and lakes from which vapor is always rising, 
and also of the vast expanse of the water in 
the sea. 

The experiments recommended in the lesson 
for condensing the vapor in the air should be 
tried and conclusions drawn from them before 
the text is read at all. Also, the movement of 
clouds should be noticed and discussed, as an 
illustration of how moisture travels. 

Detailed Study of the Sections of the United 
States 

Before beginning the study of the United 
States by sections make a study for some days 
of home surroundings (p. 40, Nat. El. Geog.). 

Consider with the children the rainfall of the 



32 ELEMENTARY GEOGRAPHY 

home region, the climate (summer and winter), 
the food crops, the forests. 

Have specimens brought of the most im- 
portant crops, of woods from the forests or of 
minerals from the mines. Then let children 
assist in making a large chart of the region 
somewhat as follows : — 

Our Own Neighborhood 

Climate — hot summers; cold winters. 

Soil — dark ; fertile ; good for farming. 

Rainfall — about forty inches a year ; enough 
to make good crops. 

Forest Trees — chiefly pine ; also walnut. 

Chief Crops — wheat and corn. 

Chief Occupations — farming ; lumbering ; fur- 
niture manufacturing. 

If the neighborhood of home is a mining 
region, collect specimens of minerals, put them 
in a case where they can be seen, and make a 
chart to hang near the collection. 

If the region has factories, take your class, 
if possible, to see one in operation ; collect speci- 
mens of raw materials, as cotton, wool, iron ore, 



SECTIONS OF THE UNITED STATES 33 

etc., and specimens of work in various stages 
of manufacture. Mount them on heavy sheets 
of brown paper, and make a chart list to accom- 
pany them. 

Get pictures to accompany charts, of farms, 
mines, or factories in your immediate vicinity, 
and make a collection of magazine or news- 
paper advertisements of them, or of industries 
in the section you live in. Make a booklet of 
these clippings with brown-paper covers, and 
fasten together with ribbon. At the end of the 
year these make an interesting exhibit, and help 
to fix in mind the industries of each section. 

If the industries of your section are on a large 
enough scale, try to have your school see the 
loading of wagons for a near market, or the 
loading of car or ship for transportation to a 
distance. 

All this will mean research, study, manual 
work, enthusiasm, and good preparation for the 
right understanding of other parts of the United 
States or of foreign countries. 

If this study of the home neighborhood 
should mean the spending of much time, even 



34 ELEMENTARY GEOGRAPHY 

weeks, it is time well spent, and will prove in 
the end to be time saved. Much of the material 
also can be used to answer the teacher's ques- 
tion, " What shall I have the children write 
about? " 

Begin the study of sections of the United 
States with that one in which the home is situ- 
ated. The section and the particular home 
neighborhood will be found to have many inter- 
esting points in common. 

The introductory lesson, or lessons, should be 
a quick review of North America from the 
globe : that is, the locating of the United States 
in North America and the locating of the sec- 
tion in the United States and in the zone ; the 
rainfall (p. 40); whether it is a highland or 
a lowland region ; the probable productions. 
That is to say, by judicious leading cause 
children to expect certain results from certain 
conditions which they know to exist. 

This is the time to make a careful study of 
the individual states that compose a section ; 
that is, to learn essential geographic facts ; as, 
in the Northern Section, the names of the states 



SECTIONS OF THE UNITED STATES 35 

composing it; which are Lake states, which 
Mississippi River states, which Ohio states, etc. 
Fix these facts in children's minds with much 
study of the map and much map drawing, but 
no repeating of phrases devoid of meaning 
for them. It is a good plan to have put on the 
board a rather large sketch map of the section 
which is being studied, with the states marked 
off but not named, and to have a few minutes' 
drill each day on the naming of individual 
states, rivers, and mountains. Printed outline 
maps, in which the names are to be placed by 
the pupil, are also useful. This study of place 
geography should precede the industrial study 
of each section. 

As an introduction to the industrial study of 
the section, give oral lessons on each of the 
industries prominent there ; see the suggestions 
on pages 37-48 of this manual concerning wheat, 
cotton, herding, market gardening, forests, coal 
and iron, manufactures, commerce, cities. 

The reading of the text, for instance (for 
the Northern Section), p. 42, Nat. EL Geog., 
should follow, and the close study of some of 



36 ELEMENTARY GEOGRAPHY 

the particulars in it, but children should not be 
expected to learn all that the text contains. 

When the study of the home section is com- 
pleted, take up the other sections in order, with 
a similar method of study (see pp. 48-50 of 
this manual). 

The Summing up of a Section 

There are certain things which the pupil 
should know definitely about each section before 
leaving it : — 

1. The location and name of each of its 
states and of its chief mountain ranges, lakes, 
and rivers, so that he can place them on an out- 
line or a sketch map. 

2. The chief resources of the section. 

3. The chief industries and products. 

4. The chief cities, names and location. 

It is a great mistake to suppose that there 
should not be any systematic drill on place geog- 
raphy. The teaching of what things are and 
why they are — as products, industries, cities, 
etc. — is essential, but unless combined with 
where they are, fails to teach geography. 



INDUSTRIES 2>7 

Wheat 

The fact that cold winters, hot summers, 
moderate rainfall, and fertile soil make possible 
great grain-producing regions should be dwelt 
on and understood, that finding like conditions 
elsewhere the child may look for similar crops. 

Collect specimens of various kinds of grain 
— leaf blade, head, and single grains (p. 42, Nat. 
EL Geog.). Compare these, know them by name, 
mount them, — wheat, rye, oats, barley, and 
maize for the Northern Section, — and have 
drawings made as busy work. Make a sketch 
map of the United States and shade in the grain 
region. 

Then follow the history of wheat from its 
planting through its various stages of harvest- 
ing and manufacture until it is flour in barrels. 
Follow the route of its transportation to lake or 
river port, or railroad center (Minneapolis, 
St. Paul, Duluth, Chicago), and then (as wheat 
or flour) to eastern city or seaport, where per- 
haps the wheat is placed in elevators ready to 
be put on ships for further transportation across 



38 ELEMENTARY GEOGRAPHY 

the ocean. Have children write short stories 
of its changes from the seed to the loaf of 
bread on the breakfast table ; or of the trip 
from the field to a city in the East 

It may take several days to study the subject 
of wheat properly. Use a part of each day to 
study and have recited the names and locations 
of the states which produce much wheat, so 
that children may not only know in a general 
way something of the grain, its cultivation, 
process of transformation into flour, etc., but 
definitely what part of the country it grows in, 
and what states are the great wheat states. 

Keep in mind the great value of illustrations, 
which the children will take much interest 
in collecting. The classifying of them and the 
pasting of them into large brown-paper scrap- 
books make profitable busy work. 

Read from Carpenter's North America, begin- 
ning at page 164. 

Some time should be spent in studying rice 
and com in the same way that wheat is studied. 
For rice see Carpenter's North America, p. 120; 
for corn, p. 159. 



INDUSTRIES 39 

Cotton 

Treat the subject of cotton (p. 54, Nat. EL 
Geog.\ the staple product of the South, in the 
same way as that suggested above for treating 
wheat. If home is not in the Southern Section, 
a specimen of the raw cotton in the boll may 
easily be obtained from almost any southern 
town. The children of a public school of the 
town will be glad to exchange products with 
children in your school, or the postmaster will 
probably forward a sample if stamps are sent. 
Tell the children the story of the difficulty of 
getting the seeds from the fiber, and of Eli 
Whitney's invention ; of the great increase in 
cotton growth since then. Get samples of vari- 
ous kinds of cotton cloth and thread and pictures 
of cotton mills — exteriors and interiors. If the 
children did not weave in the kindergarten, they 
will be glad to construct looms out of shallow 
boxes and tacks, and to weave oblongs of rags 
or cord, which can be sewed together to make a 
drapery or rug. 

Make a sketch map of the United States and 



40 ELEMENTARY GEOGRAPHY 

put in the cotton region. Have children know 
definitely which are the cotton-growing states 
and by comparison which are the wheat states. 
The knowledge of the thing itself, what it looks 
like and how it grows, is of no more importance 
than of where it grows.- 

Read from Carpenter's North America, p. 109. 

The Herding Industry of the West 

Make a connected study of the raising of 
cattle, hogs, and sheep, — of their food, where 
they are raised, etc. (pp. 43 and 59, Nat. EL 
Geog.\ Bring out the story of how they are 
driven or transported to near markets, to eastern 
cities, or to Europe ; or to the great slaughter- 
houses of Chicago or Kansas City, where the 
animals are killed and the meat is canned or 
cured or packed fresh in refrigerating cars for 
transportation to distant places. The eating of 
fresh American beef in Europe and the trans- 
portation of American hams and bacon to all 
parts of the world make interesting stories. 
Have children able to locate definitely the great 
grazing region of the country. Read descrip- 



INDUSTRIES 41 

tion of stockyards at Chicago, from Carpenter's 
North America, p. 229. 

Market Gardening 

Market gardening near the great cities, and 

particularly in the eastern part of the country, 

is important, and should receive more attention 

than the mere mention of its existence (p. 43, 

Nat. El. Geog.). If possible, children should 

visit a market or market store and should make 

a list of such fresh fruits and vegetables as are 

contained in it, classifying the things into those 

transported long distances, as from Florida or 

California, and those grown near home. Then 

discuss the question of how these fresh fruits 

and vegetables are packed and got to market, — 

in crates, barrels, boxes, baskets and by wagons, 

trains, ships ; and of where they are sold, — ■ 

market houses, stores, the street (by peddlers), 

etc. See Carpenter's North America, pp. 133, 

266. 

Forests 

Make a special study of the forests of the 
section. Collect leaves (or pictures) of the most 



42 ELEMENTARY GEOGRAPHY 

important trees : in the Northern Section, the 
pine, oak, walnut, poplar, ash. Get specimens 
of the wood from wood yards, planing mills, 
and carpenter shops, and make lists of articles 
made from each kind. Mount the leaves and 
wood specimens and preserve the lists of arti- 
cles made. Get pictures of lumber camps 
which will show how trees are felled, sawed 
into certain lengths, and hauled to stream or 
mill. Get other pictures showing how the logs 
are made into boards, and then into window 
and door frames, into furniture, etc. 

Make a sketch map of the United States and, 
when the text is read, locate the chief cities of 
lumber manufacture. 

Read from Carpenter's NortJi America, p. 184. 

Coal and Iron Mining 

The need of fuel to heat houses, to run 
machinery, to move railroad trains and ships, 
leads to the subject of coal mining (p. 47, Nat. 
El. Geog.). Photographs of coal mines in the 
Northern Section, particularly in Pennsylvania, 
are easy to obtain and cheap. They should 



INDUSTRIES 43 

show the entrance to the shaft, the interior of 
a mine with miners at work, the car loads of 
coal being drawn by mules to the bottom of the 
shaft, the coal breakers, and the long coal trains 
loaded for transportation to cities far away. 
Get from coal dealers specimens of as many 
kinds of hard and soft coal as possible, and try 
to get a specimen of peat to show vegetable 
fiber. See Carpenter's North America, p. 211. 

Follow the story of coal mining with a very 
simple account of iron mining, first obtaining 
specimens of several kinds of iron ore, that the 
words (p. 47, Nat. El. Geog.) may mean something 
to children. Do not forget that in return for 
some specimens from your neighborhood chil- 
dren near the iron mines will gladly send you 
specimens. If there are iron works or foun- 
dries in the vicinity, take children to see them. 
Pictures are good, but the real thing is always 
much better. Make a map of the coal region 
of the Northern Section and add to it the 
Lake Superior iron region and the Alabama 
iron region. After reading the text of Lesson 
31, p. 47, add to this map the cities which are 



44 ELEMENTARY GEOGRAPHY 

in the coal and iron region and use the maps 
thus made to review from. Read from Car- 
penter's North America, p. 179. 

It is well to stop here for a day or two and 
review for locations of the various resources 
of the section — agricultural, forest, and mining 
— and for the locations of the most important 
of the great cities connected with the resources. 

Manufactures 

Dwell on the fact that any change of an 
article to make it fit for man's use makes of it a 
manufactured article. Explain that the prepa- 
ration of rawhide to make leather is manufac- 
ture, and so is the making of leather into shoes, 
whether a single pair is made by one man in a 
little one-room shop or hundreds of pairs are 
made in one day in an immense building 
crowded with machinery and work people. 

The spinning of raw cotton into cotton yarn 
and the weaving of it into cloth are both manu- 
facture ; so also is the making of a single dress 
by a dressmaker who is perhaps at the owner's 
house when she makes it, or the making of 



INDUSTRIES 45 

many hundreds of dresses in the great ready- 
made-clothing houses of New York or Chicago, 
and other large cities. 

Have pupils make a good-sized map of the 
United States, and as the lesson is read (p. 48, 
Nat. EL Geog.) have them put in the cities men- 
tioned, and lead them always to notice that 
the large manufacturing cities are very likely 
to be near a source of supply of raw material, 
or near coal and iron, or on a river or harbor. 
Each of the cities mentioned on page 49 should 
be definitely connected in the children's minds 
with a certain industry, so that when the city 
is mentioned to them or they meet its name 
in print, they will at once think of its greatest 
industry. So much as this may be accom- 
plished in the first year's use of a text-book. 

Commerce 

Let pupils look about the schoolroom and 
notice from the advertisements of makers' 
names, etc., where globe, books, maps, tables, 
chairs, etc., were made. Let them bring in lists 
of things at home which were manufactured 



46 ELEMENTARY GEOGRAPHY 

elsewhere, or of articles of food brought from 
long distances. 

Ask such questions as : " Why did we get 
these articles from so far away ? How were they 
brought here ? What products of our region 
were sold to get money to pay for them ? " 

Lead children to see that products from one 
part of the country are sold or exchanged for 
products or goods obtained in another part. 

Make children try to realize that this exchange 
of goods occupies a great many people all their 
time, and makes an industry by itself. 

Encourage children whose parents or friends 
are engaged in any branch of commerce to tell 
what part of the transactions they perform. 

Methods of transportation should be touched 
on. Tell the story of the transportation of 
some one article from home by wagon to a rail- 
road station, or a canal, or a city on a river; to 
a seaport or a lake port ; and finally by ship to 
another country. Pick out of the section the 
most important commercial cities, as (for the 
Northern Section) New York, Chicago, Buffalo, 
Philadelphia, St. Paul, Milwaukee, Duluth, St. 



CITIES 47 

Louis, Baltimore ; and after reading again, per- 
haps, certain parts of the chapters on industries 
(Lesson 30) and on manufactures (Lesson 32), 
with close study of the position of these cities 
on the map, develop the commercial importance 
of such places. If the children have studied 
and drawn the map of the section often enough 
and have placed the cities correctly, the com- 
mercial centers are not difficult to remember. 

Cities 

In the study of any section of the United 
States, do not attempt to teach very many things 
about a number of cities, but pick out one or two 
of the largest and most characteristic cities and 
make a special study of them, as New York and 
Chicago in the Northern Section, New Orleans, 
Boston, Denver, and San Francisco. Dwell 
only on such features as young children can 
understand and appreciate. 

In studying New York city, for instance, show 
pictures of its wharves, ships in the harbor, its 
bridges connecting the boroughs, its high build- 
ings, factories, elevated, surface, and under- 



48 ELEMENTARY GEOGRAPHY 

ground railways, big stores, parks, recreation 
piers, etc. Dwell particularly on its wonderful 
harbor, the Hudson River, the Erie Canal and 
what is brought down it, the many railroads 
coming to the city ; the fine farm lands of the 
state and of Pennsylvania, and the proximity 
of the Pennsylvania coal fields ; the great manu- 
facturing cities near, and the transportation of 
their products to New York to be sent by ships 
to foreign countries. 

Try to have children understand why New 
York or any other great city studied has grown 
to be so important. 

The Northern Section 

The treatment of the Northern Section hasbeen 
outlined by using it to exemplify the treatment 
of the home section (pp. 34-48 of this manual). 
If the Northern Section is the home section, 
the other sections would be taken up as follows. 

The Northeastern Section (p. 51, Nat. El. Geog.) 

Compare each new section with those studied 
before it, as to climate, rainfall, soil, and produc- 



SECTIONS OF THE UNITED STATES 49 

tions, and then make a particular study of its 
most characteristic industries, as cotton manu- 
facture in New England. Review the study of 
cotton (p. 39 of this manual) and add to it such 
topics as where it is obtained ; how it is brought 
to New England, and to the mills ; where it 
goes as cloth from the mills (south, west, to 
Europe, and to the West Indies). 

Treat wool and boots and shoes as fully as 
cotton. 

The New England fishing industry should 
have special study, as a new topic, but not a 
great amount of time should be spent on it. 
Follow some such outline as the following : — 

Kinds of Fish Caught — cod, mackerel, her- 
ring. 

Methods of Catching — by trawls, seines, nets. 

Methods of Preserving — drying, smoking, in 
brine, in oil. 

Finish the study of a section by a compari- 
son of the characteristic physical features, 
productions, and industries of all the various 
sections so far studied. 



50 ELEMENTARY GEOGRAPHY 

The Southern Section 

For study of cotton see page 39 of this man- 
ual and for herding see page 40. Make a 
special study of sugar and rice. For sugar read 
from Carpenter's North America, p. 143. 

Review also coal and iron, p. 42 of this 
manual. 

The Plateau Section 

Irrigation in connection with agriculture, 
herding, and mining are the most important 
topics of the Plateau Section. Use the pictures 
on page 63, Nat. El. Geog., and page 37, Nat. 
Adv. Geog., for description of methods of irriga- 
tion, and get other pictures to illustrate in a 
simple way gold and silver mining. See also 
Carpenter's North America, pp. 262 and 239, 
241, 248. 

The Pacific Section 

The fruit, the forests, and the salmon fish- 
eries are the chief new topics of study in the 
Pacific Section. 

At the end of the study of the various sec- 
tions give a comparative review by as simple 



SECTIONS OF THE UNITED STATES 51 

an outline as that for the summing up of a sec- 
tion (p. 36 of this manual), taking perhaps a 
day to each of the four topics. Do not ex- 
pect every pupil to know all the place geog- 
raphy that may have been taught him ; but his 
definite knowledge of the United States should 
include about one hundred and twenty-five geo- 
graphical features — their names and locations 
— as follows : — 

States and territories 50 

Cities not more than 40 

Relief features about 10 

Rivers about 12 

Lakes 6 

Capes and indentations of the coast . about 7 

125 

Minor Countries of North America 

Do not spend too much time or go into too 
great detail in the study of Canada, Mexico, 
Central America, and the West Indies. Use 
the United States as a standard of compari- 
son. At the end, give a brief review of North 
America as a whole. 



52 ELEMENTARY GEOGRAPHY 

The Other Grand Divisions 

The study of each new grand division should 
be begun with reference to the globe, that 
it may be placed definitely in relation to other 
grand divisions and located as to zones. 

For instance, in beginning the study of South 
America use the globe and ask : " In what 
hemisphere is North America ? South Amer- 
ica ? In what zone is the greater part of North 
America ? Of South America ? " 

Before beginning the text-book study of a 
new grand division some teachers find it an 
excellent plan to lead pupils to make use of 
the knowledge they have gained of North 
America in general, and the United States in 
particular, as follows : — 

" Compare maps, pp. 22 and 72. On which 
side of North America are there high moun- 
tains ? On which side of South America ? 
What part of the United States has very little 
rainfall? (map, p. 40). What is the reason? 
(p. 40). In the southern part of South America 
the winds blow mostly from the northwest 



THE OTHER GRAND DIVISIONS 53 

and west. On which side of the high moun- 
tains in the southern part of South America 
do you think the most rain falls ? " This is not 
a guessing game. The pupils should know why 
they think that the most rain falls on the west 
side, and why they think that there is little 
rainfall on the east side, — the reason being, of 
course, that the winds get their moisture from 
the Pacific Ocean, and lose it as they are chilled 
in crossing the mountains. 

In a similar way the teacher may bring out 
the fact that in the torrid zone, where winds 
blow from the east, there is much rain in the 
region east of the high mountains, and little 
rain west of them. 

Teachers may also find it well to extend this 
method to the study of the productions of a 
new grand division : — 

" What grains (wheat, rye, oats, etc.) are raised 
in about the middle of the temperate zone of 
North America? In which part of South Amer- 
ica do you think the same grains might be 
cultivated ? In which part of North America 
do cotton, sugar, and tropical fruits grow ? In 



54 ELEMENTARY GEOGRAPHY 

which part of South America would you expect 
to find tropical productions ? " 

It is a good plan to make a list on the black- 
board of the conclusions which children make 
about rainfall, productions, etc., in the preliminary 
study of a new grand division, and to leave them 
there until the text has been read. Finding that 
a conclusion has been properly drawn is very 
gratifying to a child, and leads to further effort. 
If it is not verified, try to find out why. 

In the study of individual countries of a con- 
tinent, whenever possible, compare with a like 
part of the United States. Try to have pupils 
remember general conditions of sections rather 
than isolated facts about single countries. 

The ability to gain information readily from 
the printed page is a necessary basis, not only 
for the study of advanced geography, but also 
for the study of nearly all other subjects in the 
school course. Too much care can not be given 
to the guidance of pupils in the acquirement 
of this art. Before the pupil reaches the end 
of his Elementary Geography he should have 
learned, from practice in daily recitations, how 



THE OTHER GRAND DIVISIONS 55 

to find for himself the answers to given ques- 
tions by reading the text that contains the in- 
formation. Also, after he has studied a lesson 
from the text, he should be able to recall the 
information gained, and give the gist of it (in a 
manner showing that he understands it, and that 
he is not merely repeating memorized words) 
by the aid of a list of topics, such as are given 
at the ends of lessons in the Nat. EL Geog. 

At the end of the work with the elementary 
text-book, give a review of the world which 
shall include: (1) the manners and customs of 
different peoples ; (2) the important products of 
the great countries of the world; (3) the ex- 
change of products between these countries ; 
and (4) a very short account of the principal 
trade routes of the United States and other 
countries (across the Atlantic between the 
United States and Europe, across the Pacific 
between the United States and China and 
Japan, and between the United States and 
South America). 

Do not expect the pupil to remember all the 
place geography that he studies ; but at the 



56 ELEMENTARY GEOGRAPHY 

end of the work with the Elementary Geog- 
raphy he should know definitely the names and 
locations of about four hundred geographical 
features, as follows : — 

Oceans, continents, and grand divisions 13 

North America : 

Natural features (mountains, rivers, lakes, islands, 

capes, bays, etc.) . about 60 

Countries (5), the states and territories of the 
United States (50), and cities (45) 100 

South America : 

Natural features about 12 

Countries (11) and cities (10) 21 

Europe : 

Natural features about 40 

Countries (22) and cities (23) 45 

Asia : 

Natural features . about 30 

Countries (16) and cities (14) . 30 

Africa : 

Natural features about 20 

Countries (19) and cities (6) 25 

Australia, East Indies, etc. : 

Islands (9) and cities (3) 12 

408 



ADVANCED GEOGRAPHY 57 

Geography in the Higher Grades 

If geography has been well taught in the 
lower grades, pupils should have, when they 
begin its study from an advanced book in the 
higher grades, a pretty definite knowledge of 
the shape of the earth, its rotation on its axis, 
and the consequent change from day to 
night. They will know that from equator to 
poles the climate becomes colder because north 
and south from the equator the rays of the sun 
fall less vertically on the earth. They will know 
what kinds of plant life to associate with each 
zone, and they will have a definite knowledge 
of the most important physiographic features of 
each grand division. 

They will have learned to associate certain 
conditions of climate, soil, and situation with 
increasing density of population, and certain 
other physical conditions with scarcity of inhab- 
itants; and conversely where there are large 
numbers of people or where population is sparse, 
to look for reasons. They will have become 
somewhat acquainted with the various peoples 



58 ADVANCED GEOGRAPHY 

of the earth and with the great trading centers 
of the world, and they will know by name and 
location a large number of cities in the United 
States and some of the great capitals and trade 
centers of the rest of the world. All this they 
will know in a simple way but logically and defi- 
nitely and with a keen interest in the subject 
and a strong desire to learn more. Neverthe- 
less in beginning the study of advanced geog- 
raphy it is well to give a rapid review of such 
facts as will make what follows clear and 
reasonable. 

Establish beyond a possible doubt the form 
of the earth, by careful and simple proofs such 
as are recommended on page 5, Nat. Adv. 
Geog. 

It is as important and necessary that pupils 
at this stage of their progress should have 
globes as it was several years ago, and that all 
this preliminary work should be taught or re- 
viewed, globe in hand, and with as much care 
as if -they were hearing it for the first time. 
But demand of them clearer thought, prompter 
following of your explanations, greater ability 



LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE 59 

to reason, and good English in which to clothe 
their thought. 

It is not a waste of time to teach again the 
rotation of the earth, and the cause of day and 
night, by rotating a globe in front of a light. 
Teach as if new (pp. 6, 7, Nat. Adv. Geog.), axis, 
poles, and equator. Make the pupils realize that 
not only the succession of day and night, but 
the measure of time and the determination of 
direction, depend upon the earth's rotation. 

Whenever a difficult subject is taken up, the 
lesson should be taught first orally, as in the 
lower grades, before the corresponding part of 
the text-book is read by the pupils. 

Now is the time to introduce the subject of 
latitude and longitude. It is not necessary or 
advisable to teach it before. Let pupils work 
out the subject on wooden balls, putty balls, 
or even clay balls. Have the north and south 
poles and the equator scratched in. Divide the 
space between the equator and the north pole 
into nine equal parts, and make circles parallel 
to the equator through the division marks. 
Divide the space between the equator and the 



60 ADVANCED GEOGRAPHY 

south pole in the same way, and since latitude 
is reckoned always from the equator, call the 
equator o° and number the parallels by tens to 
the poles. The latitude of each pole is 90 . 
By this method it is made plain that the parallels 
are circles, and that any place on a certain 
parallel is exactly as far north or south of the 
equator as any other place, or every other place, 
on that parallel. 

Ask many questions like these : "A place on 
the third of your parallels north of the equator 
is in what latitude ? On the fifth ? On the 
eighth ? If a place is halfway between the 
parallels of 40 and 50 , in what latitude is it?" 

Develop the idea of degree. " If a place is one 
degree north of the equator, in what latitude is 
it ? If it is one degree south of the north pole, 
in what latitude is it ? If it is two degrees 
south of the fourth parallel south of the equator, 
in what latitude is it ? " 

Have much practice in reading the latitude 
of places on the globe. 

Present longitude in a way something like 
this : " We can not yet tell exactly where a place 



LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE 6l 

is in relation to other places unless we have 
some way of determining how far it is east or 
west of the other places. 

" On your globe (ball) draw a direct line from 
the north to the south pole, crossing the equator 
at right angles, and continue it to the north 
pole again. This line makes a circle. Number 
one of the places where it crosses the equator 
o and the other 180. Find circular measure in 
your arithmetics. A circle is divided, we see, 
into 360 ; a half circle into 180 . Divide each 
half of the equator into nine equal parts. How 
many degrees are there in each part ? Number 
the parts from the o line to 180 in one direction 
and then from the o line in the other direction. 
You will notice that 180 marks the middle from 
each way. The whole circle of the equator is 
thus divided into 360 . Through each of the 
dividing marks, 20 , 160 , 40 , 140 , etc., draw a 
circle from pole to pole. Because it is midday 
at exactly the same moment on any one of 
these lines from the north pole to the south 
pole, the lines are called meridians. This east 
and west measurement is called longitude. 



62 ADVANCED GEOGRAPHY 

"The world usually takes the meridian of 
Greenwich (part of London, p. 120, Nat. Adv. 
Geog.) as the meridian of o, or the prime 
meridian. Everything east of it to 180 is in 
east longitude and everything west of it to 180 
is in west longitude." 

Let the pupils use a globe to answer ques- 
tions such as the following : " Through what 
countries does the meridian of o° pass ? Through 
what ocean does the meridian of 180 pass? 
Which grand divisions lie wholly in longitude 
west from Greenwich ? Which grand divisions 
lie partly in east and partly in west longitude ? 
Give approximately the latitude and longitude 
of Washington, London, San Francisco, Rome, 
Valparaiso, Melbourne, Panama, Manila, Cape 
Town, Alexandria (Egypt), Quito, Cape Horn, 
Singapore, etc." 

Having worked out the subject with balls 
and globe, and not until then, read the text 
and have pupils answer all questions in it, 
but do not expect them to remember the lati- 
tude and longitude of places. 



COLORED RELIEF MAPS 63 

Maps on which Relief is indicated by Contour 
Lines and by Color 

The reading and understanding of such relief 
maps as the Nat. El. Geog. contains (pp. 22, 
72, 87, etc.) is easy, but the change to maps in 
which variations of relief are indicated by con- 
tour lines and color (Nat, Adv. Geog., pp. 8, 16, 
44, 48, etc.) is more difficult The subject should 
be taught experimentally. Make a clay, putty, 
or papier-mache relief map or model of North 
America in a pan, pour in water to represent 
the surrounding sea, and draw a map of this 
miniature grand division. Then pour in more 
water, by degrees, and within the original map 
make several maps of the parts unsubmerged at 
several stages of the deluge. When colored, 
the various maps made will exemplify the method 
of showing elevations by contour lines. 

It is a good plan to compare such a map as 
that on page 22 of the Nat. El. Geog. with that on 
page 44 of the Nat. Adv. Geog. to let pupils see 
that they really stand for the same thing, but 
that the relief as shown in color and contour line 



64 ADVANCED GEOGRAPHY 

tells much more of the story, and tells it more 
definitely. For instance, on the map, p. 22, 
Nat. EL Geog., the space between the Rocky 
Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains in 
the United States seems to be an almost un- 
broken plain with only slight variations in alti- 
tude : whereas on page 44 or 48 of the Nat. 
Adv. Geog. we understand by means of the con- 
tour lines that along the eastern edge of the 
deepest buff color the land is high, reaching 
along this line an altitude of six thousand feet 
above sea level ; that from this six-thousand- 
foot line east to the eastern edge of the next 
lighter shade there is a decrease in height to 
four thousand feet ; that about two hundred 
miles farther east the greatest height is two 
thousand feet ; and that east of this there is a 
far more gradual descent to the level of the 
Mississippi River. 

The Upheaval of the Land 

It is essential to have the pupils understand 
not only that the surface of the earth is irregu- 
lar, — that is, that some parts " bulge out slightly, 



THE UPHEAVAL OF THE LAND • 65 

forming regions of elevation, while other parts 
are slightly sunken, forming regions of depres- 
sion" (p. 9, Nat. Adv. Geog.), — but also that 
the earth is not stable, that is, remaining at the 
same height above the sea. Instead it is in 
many places actually rising or sinking at the 
present time. Along the New Jersey coast, for 
instance, the land is sinking at the rate of about 
two feet in a century, while along the California 
coast it is rising at about the same rate. Dur- 
ing the course of a good many centuries these 
movements up and down may change very 
much the outlines of the continents. Indeed, 
"if the surface of the sea were to sink one 
mile lower than its present level " (Question, 
p. 9), what are now three separate continents 
with all the large islands of the world would be 
a single great region of elevation, as is very 
clearly shown by the star-shaped map, p. 8. 

Keep this presentation of the upheaved earth 
very simple, that the pupil may have a right 
concept of the surface of the earth : (1) That a 
great continental plateau (p. 9) appears above 
the ocean chiefly in the northern hemisphere. 



66 ADVANCED GEOGRAPHY 

(2) That the upheaved surface of this continen- 
tal plateau is called highland or lowland (p. 10), 
according as it is higher or lower than a half 
mile above sea level. (3) That the coasts of 
the upheaved part of the continental plateau 
have, in the past, been at times higher and at 
times lower than they are now (p. 10), and that 
these changes are still taking place. (4) That 
wherever, in the uplift of the continental plateau, 
rock layers have been pushed up until they are 
bent or broken and the harder parts of the rock 
folds have been left projecting high above the 
surrounding country, there mountains have been 
formed (p. 11). (5) That incidental to the up- 
lift and sinking of the earth's surface, earth- 
quakes occur and volcanoes are formed. 

The Wearing Away of the Land 

Following the study of the upheaved part of 
the surface of the globe should come the rather 
more detailed study of the wearing away of the 
land (p. 12, Nat. Adv. Geog.). It is very diffi- 
cult indeed even for trained geographers to 
realize fully the tremendous cumulative effects 



THE WEARING AWAY OF THE LAND 6/ 

of the erosive action of the elements on the 
surface of the land ; to remember that most 
of the valleys which they see have been made 
by erosion, that each valley was once filled with 
earth and rock up to the height of the border- 
ing hills and beyond, and that all the washed- 
away material was disintegrated by the elements 
and carried away by the streams. 

It is many times more difficult to impress 
children with the tremendous force of erosion 
and the changes which have been and are con- 
stantly being made in the appearance of the 
land by the various erosive forces, but unless 
this is accomplished they will not appreciate 
the great value of the study of how the land 
wears away. Much of this can be learned by 
observation of the natural forces constantly at 
work. 

Have the pupils watch a bank on a rainy day, 
and cause them to notice how the rain washes 
down some of the earth from the bank (erosion) 
and how the washed-down earth is deposited 
at the foot of the bank as detritus. Have them 
notice how on a windy day the dust flies about 



68 ADVANCED GEOGRAPHY 

and how thick a layer of it (detritus) is deposited 
on window sills and furniture ; and tell them to 
think what an amount must be shifted about 
in a dry sandy region, where it may travel long 
distances through the air. Show pictures of 
dunes of the New Jersey or French coasts, or 
on the shores of the Great Lakes. 

Obtain some specimens of weathered rock 
from some road or bank cutting or from a field, 
or notice the crumbling of rock on some part 
of a building which is weathering. 

Study under a magnifying glass a handful of 
soil from the top of some bank. It will be 
found to consist of small pebbles, broken bits 
of rock, little pieces of wood, decayed leaves, 
etc., mingled so as to form soil (p. 13). 

Whenever the subjects of ground water, 
streams, and lakes can be worked out in the 
field, use book lessons only to supplement the 
field study. When field lessons are impossible, 
give such lessons with the sand board, draw- 
ings, and pictures before using the book. In 
the study of deposits of springs, photographs 
and specimens of stalactites and stalagmites are 



THE WEARING AWAY OF THE LAND 69 

to be obtained at very slight cost from any of 
the famous caves of the country. 

A river system can be seen in miniature on 
any rainy day in a gently sloping bank. It 
is an easy and interesting experiment to dam 
a slow-moving stream when a shower is near 
its end, in gutter, or ditch, or gully, and form 
thereby a lake (p. 15). 

Such a map as that on page 16 is an excellent 
one from which to study the location of the 
chief highlands and river systems of the world 
in their mutual relation, and should be used 
not only here in the special study of divides 
and slopes, but also when the study of a new 
grand division is begun, to establish again its 
position and its location and relief on the great 
continental plateau. 

Divides and Slopes (p. 17) may be found on 
sloping fields or banks and should be made on 
the sand board before the great continental 
slopes are studied. 

Work of Streams (p. 17). — If there are in the 
neighborhood any stream features which can 
be seen and studied so as to show one of the 



JO ADVANCED GEOGRAPHY 

processes of wearing away the land, by all 
means take the class to see them. A creek, a 
small river, rapids, or cascades should be visited 
if it is possible. 

Watch a stream after a rain and notice how 
much detritus it carries. Multiply in imagina- 
tion the amount of detritus which one stream 
carries during one storm and deposits after it 
by the number of streams affected by this 
storm, and then by the number of storms in 
a year, and try to picture the vast amount of 
soil transported during storms in all parts of 
the world. 

In this way are formed sand bars, deltas, and 
flood plains (pp. 18-19). All these perform a 
most important part in the economy of the 
world, for on some of the deltas and flood plains 
are found the greatest populations. 

Glaciers 

While reading the lesson on glaciers (p. 19, 
Nat. Adv. Geog.) it is well to have pupils see 
how much the surface of the northern part of 
the United States was changed by the old glacier 



TIDES 7 1 

which covered it. Turn to the map on page 48 
and notice the part of the country which was 
covered by the glacier (the part covered with 
tiny dots on the map). Then turn to the map 
on page 62 and have the pupils notice the great 
number of lakes scattered over Maine, and tell 
them that the lakes represented on the map are 
only a few of those actually in the state, all of 
them caused by the glacier. 

Tides 

The subject of tides (p. 20, Nat. Adv. Geog.) 
is very complicated and difficult to understand. 
No attempt should be made in elementary 
schools to go into it at all deeply. It is suffi- 
cient for pupils to understand : — 

1. That the ocean water slowly rises along 
most coasts for several hours, and then for several 
hours as slowly recedes — this regular alterna- 
tion causing high tide and low tide. 

2. That about twelve and one half hours 
intervene between two successive high tides or 
two successive low tides. 

3. That the amount of rise and fall varies at 



72 ADVANCED GEOGRAPHY 

different places — at some places it is but a few 
inches, at others thirty or forty feet. 

4. That the tides are caused chiefly by the 
attraction of the moon, which forces the surface 
of the sea into a broad, low wave. This wave 
follows the moon across the sea and thus causes 
the water to rise and fall on the coasts. 

In harbors where the rise of the tide is many 
feet, wharves must be built to provide for the 
change of water level. Sometimes great docks 
are so built and inclosed that ships can be kept 
at a level in them. 

The Rocky Layers of the Land 

From the study of erosion there should nat- 
urally follow a consideration of what becomes 
of the immense amount of the earth's material 
which is transported from the land to the 
ocean or the bottom of some great lake, and 
the changes that these masses may undergo 
(p. 22, Nat. Adv. Geog.). 

The reading of this lesson will have a real in- 
terest for the pupils if the teacher will get speci- 
mens of sand, sandstone, quartz rock (quartzite) 



THE ROCKY LAYERS OF THE LAND 73 

shale, slate, limestone, chalk, marble, and as many 
varieties of the coals as it is possible to obtain. 

It is well to stop at this point and sum up 
very briefly (as below) the great features of the 
building up of the land and those which are 
wearing it down. Help pupils to look for causes 
and to draw such conclusions from the study 
as will enable them to understand what condi- 
tions make certain sections of the earth better 
fitted for man's abode than others. 

UPHEAVAL AND WEARING AWAY OF THE LAND 

Nat. Adv. Geog., pp. 9-22 

A. Surface of the earth is divided into : — 

1. Regions of depression — filled by deep sea. 

2. Regions of elevation, or " continental plateau. 1 ' 

(a) Dry land. 

(b) Bottom of shallower parts of sea — the parts 

where the water is less than a mile deep. 

B. The dry land : — 

1. Great highlands of the earth. They are brokenly 

continuous, forming a great horseshoe curve from 
Cape Horn to Cape of Good Hope. . 

2. Broad lowlands of the earth. Most of them are 

inside the great curve of the highlands ; the lands 
sloping to the Atlantic and Arctic oceans. 



74 ADVANCED GEOGRAPHY 

C. Coast lines : — 

1. Changes. 

(a) Have changed in the past by elevation or 
depression of surface of the continental 
plateau. 

(d) Are still changing, but very slowly. 

2. Kinds. 

(a) Sinking coasts are irregular — Atlantic and 
Arctic coasts. 

(b) Rising coasts are regular — Pacific coast of 
America. 

D. Mountains. That part of the dry land which is made 

from rock layers which have been bent and folded 
or broken. Incidents of mountain folding are : — ■ 

i. Earthquakes. 

2. Volcanoes. 

E. The wearing away of the land. The wearing down 

of the land is accomplished by : — 

1. Changes of weather — which cause expansion and 

contraction of rock surfaces, thus loosening them. 
Gravity draws loose pieces of rock down in- 
clines. 

2. Winds — which move detritus long distances, much 

of it to lower levels ; — but on sandy coasts they 
may form hills and cause those hills to travel 
inland^ 

3. Water. 

(a) Rain — which washes away loose soil, and 



THE SEASONS 75 

by its expansive force when* freezing breaks 
off particles of rain-soaked rock. 

(b) Underground water — which may dissolve 
mineral matter and bring it to the surface. 

(c) Surface streams — which frequently cut deep 
and wide valleys, carry much detritus, and 
form sand banks, bars, deltas, flood plains. 

(d) Glaciers — accumulated masses of snow and 
ice which move over the land, widen and 
deepen valleys, and lower hills over which 
they travel, and finally deposit huge masses of 
rock which they have gathered up in their 
course. 

(^) Waves and tides — which break up rocky 
cliffs, carry some sand out to sea, and form 
barrier beaches, spits, and hooks. 
F. The material worn away : — 

1. The deposition of rock layers. 

2. Their formation into stones of various kinds. 

3. The formation of coal in buried swamps. 

The Seasons 

The whole subject of the earth's orbit, the 
inclination of the axis of the earth, and the 
change of seasons, is very difficult for children 
to understand. It should never be taught at 
first from the text, but should be demonstrated 



j6 ADVANCED GEOGRAPHY 

by some simple apparatus which the pupil him- 
self may assist in using. Every school should 
have a planetarium for this purpose, but if a 
teacher has none, she should substitute other 
devices. Have a good-sized gilt ball suspended 
from the ceiling or set up on a stake in the yard 
to represent the sun. It should be fixed at a 
height of three or four feet. Then draw on the 
floor or yard, with the gilt sun as center, a circle 
to represent the approximate shape of the earth's 
orbit. 

Let a pupil take a globe, with the zones clearly 
marked on it, hold it with the axis tipped at 
approximately the angle of 23J away from the 
perpendicular, and walk slowly round the circle, 
maintaining the 23 |-° angle, and keeping the axis 
tipped always toward the same side of the room 
or yard (first illustration, p. 23, Nat. Adv. Geog.). 

When the pupils can do this successfully, 
and they understand what the earth's orbit is, 
and that the inclination of the earth's axis prac- 
tically does not vary in amount or direction, 
they are ready to study the change of seasons. 

It is advisable to have four globes (the cheap 



THE SEASONS 77 

twenty-five cent variety answer every purpose), 
and to have ready to fit over them as many 
semispherical, dark-colored caps. Make the 
caps of dark brown or black lining cotton, after 
the pattern of the covering of a baseball, and 
of the size of the globes you mean to use. 
The caps will show clearly the shadowed half 
of the earth, as the dotted part of each repre- 
sentation of the globe does in the second illus- 
tration on page 23. 

Start with the globe in the position in which 
the earth is -in relation to the sun at the season 
when the lesson is taking place, say December 
21, when the north pole is farthest away from 
the sun, and the south pole is within the lighted 
half of the earth. Put the shadow cap on the 
globe so that the North Frigid zone is covered (in 
shadow) and the South Frigid zone is exposed 
to light (the winter solstice picture, p. 23). 
Rotate the globe on it axis within the cap, and 
show : — 

1. That north of the Arctic Circle the earth 
is now in darkness the whole day (twenty-four 
hours) long, or both day and night. 



78 ADVANCED GEOGRAPHY 

2. That the region round the south pole is 
lighted both day and night. 

3. That the sun's rays are falling most di- 
rectly on the southern half of the earth, where 
it is summer. 

Mark December 21 on the floor where the 
child stood. 

Walk a quarter of the way around the circle, 
shifting the cap as in the illustration until it 
touches both poles, March 21. Rotate the 
earth again on its axis, and children will see 
very readily that at this date the days are every- 
where the same length, twelve hours long, and 
that the shadow comes just to the poles. The 
sun's rays are now falling perpendicularly on 
the equator. Mark the place on the floor 
March 21. 

Walk round the next quarter of the circle, 
shifting the cap, and the class will see that the 
North Frigid zone is now within the lighted part 
of the earth both day and night, and that the 
sun's rays are now falling most directly on the 
region a little north of the equator. Mark 
June 21. 



THE SEASONS 79 

Walk round another quarter, and show that 
the earth is lighted as it was in March, and that 
days and nights are again everywhere twelve 
hours long. This marks September 21. 

Complete the journey. 

Having made the journey round the earth's 
orbit, let four pupils take places in the orbit 
at the dates, each holding a globe, with the 
shadow caps properly adjusted, and have them 
describe the appearance of the earth in relation 
to the sun's rays at each of these seasons. The 
pupil standing at the place marked December 21, 
for instance, may say : — 

" At this date, December 21, the North Frigid 
zone gets no sunlight at all during one revolu- 
tion of the earth, while the South Frigid zone 
gets the sun's rays during one whole revolution ; 
therefore I have adjusted the cap, which stands 
for the shadow, so that it entirely covers the 
North Frigid zone, and leaves the South Frigid 
zone wholly in the light." 

Explain that the two circles 23J from the 
poles are called polar circles, — in the north 
Arctic and in the south Antarctic, — and that 



80 ADVANCED GEOGRAPHY 

the regions beyond these circles and toward the 
poles are called the Frigid zones. 

Explain that on the date December 21 the 
sun's rays fall directly (perpendicularly) 23|° 
south of the equator, and on June 21 they fall 
perpendicularly 23^° north of the equator, and 
that the circles 23J from the equator are the 
boundaries of the Torrid zone, because these 
are the farthest limits north and south where 
the sun's rays ever fall perpendicularly. 

The Temperate zones, where the sun's rays 
never fall at any season perpendicularly and 
where no region lies either in sun or in shadow 
for a whole day (twenty-four hours), are between 
the Frigid and Torrid zones. 

Heat Belts 

It should be made very clear to pupils that 
the boundaries of the zones are determined by 
the sun's rays on December 21 and June 21 
(the polar circles each marking the horizontal 
and the tropics each marking the vertical rays 
on one of those dates), but that the real distri- 
bution of temperature at the various seasons is 



HEAT BELTS 8 1 

more accurately shown by the maps of the Heat 
Belts. 

The temperature of a region is modified by 
several things : — 

1. The distance north or south of the equator 
as explained in the lessons on zones. 

2. The elevation above sea level (p. 24, Nat. 
Adv. Geog.). 

3. The irregular distribution of land and water 
over the earth. 

The most important conclusion to be drawn 
from the study of the heat belts is that in each 
hemisphere, northern and southern, the hot belt 
in the summer (July in northern ; January in 
southern) extends much beyond the tropic of 
that hemisphere, and especially is this true over 
the continents. In summer in the northern 
hemisphere the cold belt disappears entirely 
from that hemisphere. In winter in the northern 
hemisphere the cold belt extends far south of 
the Frigid zone, particularly over the land 
masses. 

Go carefully over this work, and have much 
map drawing with locating of heat belts in 



82 ADVANCED GEOGRAPHY 

summer and in winter to make the pupils see 
how different they are at the two seasons, and 
discuss the advantages to the northern hemi- 
sphere of having the heat belts of summer extend 
so far north over the continents. Most crops 
grow only in the summer time, hence there is 
a much greater area where many people can be 

supported. 

Winds 

While the study of such intangible and appar- 
ently capricious phenomena as the winds is 
necessarily difficult for children, and anything 
like a complete study is unnecessary at this 
stage of their education, yet certain simple under- 
lying principles can be understood and applied 
quite well enough to give the subject interest. 

Try some simple experiments to establish 
the fact that warm air is lighter than cool air 
and hence is displaced by it. Tear some tissue 
paper into very narrow strips and hold them 
near the lower opening of a lighted lamp. They 
will be drawn toward the lower opening by the 
cool air rushing in to displace the warm air in 
the chimney. Hold them over the top of the 



WINDS 83 

chimney and observe that they are carried up- 
ward by the heated air which is forced up the 
chimney by the rushing in of the cooler air 
below. 

" When there is a fire on the hearth, why do 
the sparks and smoke go up the chimney ? " 

With a thermometer test the temperature of 
the air under a stove and then over it ; and 
lead the children to tell that the cool air being 
heavy sinks to the floor and displaces any warm 
air there, forcing it to rise. 

If cooking is taught in your schools, the 
cooking teacher may give a lecture on the 
draughts of the stove that will help you much in 
this work. 

Open a window at the bottom on a cold 
winter day, sit at some distance from it, and you 
will notice the cold air first on your feet, because 
the cold air drops to the floor. If you wish to 
ventilate the room thoroughly, lower also some 
other window from the top, and the warm air 
will go out because it is pushed up by the in- 
draught of the cold air. 

From these simple experiments and explana- 



84 ADVANCED GEOGRAPHY 

tions pupils can easily understand that heavy 
air from cooler regions is continually moving 
as winds toward the warm equatorial air and 
forcing it to rise along the heat equator. These 
steady winds which blow constantly toward the 
heat equator, from both the northern and the 
southern hemisphere, are called the Trade 
Winds (p. 25, Nat. Adv. Geog.). 

These winds would blow straight from the 
north and south were it not for the rotation of 
the earth, which causes them to approach the 
equator from the northeast in the northern and 
from the southeast in the southern hemisphere. 

Belts of calms and westerlies are best taught 
as facts with but little explanation. 

Monsoon winds are most easily understood 
as the winds which prevail over the northern 
part of the Indian Ocean and over the East 
Indies in summer. At this season the heat 
equator lies far to the north of this region and 
instead of the northeast trade wind a steady 
wind from the southwest or south prevails. 
This seasonal wind is called the southwest 
monsoon. In winter the northeast trade wind 



LIFE 85 

(sometimes called the northeast monsoon) pre- 
vails. (See upper map, p. 25, Nat. Adv. Geog.) 

Life 

The lessons on the plant and animal life and 
the races of mankind of the various regions of 
the world (pp. 28-35, Nat. Adv. Geog.) are in- 
tended for reading lessons and should be made 
the period for much outside reading, for the 
study of the text-book and its illustrations, and 
for the collecting of outside illustrations and 
information. Encourage pupils to talk and to 
ask questions and have them make outlines 
and connected discourses on the salient features 
of each chapter after it has been read and 
discussed, so that the work may amount to 
something more . definite than a vague reading 
with no end in view. 

The black headings of certain groups of para- 
graphs show the main topic of thought in the 
lesson, the large type gives the salient features, 
and the small type usually gives interesting 
exemplifications. If pupils are taught this type 
arrangement of these books, they will soon learn 



86 ADVANCED GEOGRAPHY 

to get what they should out of the text with the 
least possible waste of time. 

It is well in the study of the great life regions 
to make clear the fact that Australian life is 
more closely related to the ancient past than is 
the life of other continents for the reason that, 
because of its isolated position, Australia has 
not been invaded by the modern forms of life 
of other regions, and consequently the struggle 
for existence there has not been so great as to 
cause rapid changes to take place. 

If Australia had been near enough to other 
countries for the stronger and more highly 
developed animals of other continents to get 
to it, either the rather backward, more helpless 
pouched animals (the kangaroos, for instance) 
would have been driven out of existence, or 
else, in the course of ages, only the strong hav- 
ing survived, there would have been gradual 
changes in their physical condition to meet the 
sterner necessities, and they would have become 
more highly organized. The constant struggle 
for existence against foes tends to kill off the 
weak and develop the strong. 



INDUSTRIES 87 

South America, Africa, and southeast Asia 
tell the same story of isolation, but not so 
strikingly as Australia. Evidence is shown 
that these countries were isolated later and 
after many changes had occurred which never 
occurred in Australia. 

In Eurasia and North America the struggle for 
existence was evidently a hard one, on account 
of rapid climatic changes and great competition 
among different species, for here is found the 
very highest development of animal life (p. 32). 

With this study use maps showing heat belts, 
rain distribution, forested areas, and trace con- 
nection wherever possible. 

Industries 

In the study of industries in an Advanced 
Geography read pages 34-47 of this manual for 
suggestions as to methods. 

North America 

The teacher will do well to read over and to 
follow the instructions given on pages 24-28 of 
this manual before beginning to teach North 



88 ADVANCED GEOGRAPHY 

America (p. 45, Nat. Adv. Geog.), as most of 
the pupils will need the review. 

When the general review is finished, as sug- 
gested, use the advanced book. Have all the 
map questions answered with books open, and 
with constant reference if possible to large 
wall maps. Whenever references are made in 
the text to other pages, do not fail to turn to 
those pages. For instance, after the very first 
question (p. 45), turn back to page 8 and let 
pupils describe the situation from the map there. 

Under Surface, page 45, the first direction is to 
review the lesson on the highlands and lowlands 
of the world, page 10. That does not mean to 
give a lesson again on the highlands and low- 
lands, but to have the pupils read to them- 
selves the coarse print paragraphs so that they 
may answer intelligently the questions asked 
under Surface and others which the teacher 
may ask with reference to the subject, as : 
"What are highlands? Lowlands? What are 
the great highlands? The broad lowlands?" 

When questions are asked in the text that 
pupils find it difficult to answer, as on page 45, 



NORTH AMERICA 89 

"What do these features indicate respecting the 
age of this highland region?" let pupils help 
themselves to the answer to these questions by 
using the index : in this case, from the refer- 
ences under "canyons," "volcanoes," "lava," 
"earthquakes," they can find out for themselves 
that these various features indicate the com- 
parative youth of this highland region. 

It is a good plan to put such questions on 
causes on the board, and to have them looked 
up in this way for the next day. Open the 
recitation on the second day with a discussion 
of the answers, and then go on with the regular 
lesson of the day. 

Do not think it a waste of time to stop in a 
lesson and refer to a number of paragraphs and 
pages. You are teaching how to use a book 
and how to become master of its contents. 

Pages 45-49 of the Nat. Adv. Geog. should 
be covered largely by reading lessons, reference 
lessons, and discussions with books open, but 
there should be certain definite things remem- 
bered from the study of them, such as (1) location 
of highlands and lowlands, (2) great drainage 



90 ADVANCED GEOGRAPHY 

regions, (3) the lake region and reasons for its 
existence, (4) the climate and reasons, (5) the 
rainfall. 

The United States 

Children who are old enough to study an 
Advanced Geography should be taught that the 
getting of some exact and definite information 
out of each chapter is absolutely necessary, and 
the teacher should demand it, and then review 
it often enough to feel sure that most of it is 
not slipping away. 

The study of the physical features of the 
United States (pp. 49-53, Nat. Adv. Geog.) 
should result in fixing in pupils' minds a definite 
picture of the relief of the country, something 
like the following ; and the picture should be so 
clear that the pupils can describe the relief in 
pretty exact terms, and make a fairly accurate 
sketch of it : — 

A. The Atlantic plain. 

1. Northeast of the Hudson, Piedmont only. 

2. South of the Hudson, Tidewater and Piedmont. 

3. Fall line, separating Tidewater and Piedmont. 



THE UNITED STATES 91 

B. Appalachian Mountain region. 

1 . Eastern half, Appalachian ridge and valley belt. 

2. Western half, Allegheny plateaus. 

3. Position and effect of Laurentian glacier. 

C. Central Lowland. 

1. Lake plains. 

2. Prairie plains. 

3. Gulf plain. 

D. Rocky Mountain highland. 

1. Great Plains. 

2. Rocky Mountains. 

3. Great plateau region west of mountains. 

a. Columbia plateaus. 

b. Great Basin. 

c. Colorado plateaus. 

E. Pacific coast region. 

1. Coast Ranges. 

2. Lowland valleys. 

The small maps and diagrammatic figures on 
pages 58-60 give good chances for recitation, 
with books open, from both diagram and map. 
For instance on the subject of cotton the pupil 
may say, looking at the first map and diagram 
on page 58 : "The United States produces three 
fourths of the cotton grown in the world. The 
cotton region is in the Southern States, where 
the climate is both warm and moist." 



92 ADVANCED GEOGRAPHY 

Concerning the tobacco map and diagram, he 
should say : " The United States produces one 
half of the tobacco crop of the world. The 
tobacco is grown chiefly in the Ohio valley, 
Virginia, North and South Carolina, central 
New York and Pennsylvania, southern Wis- 
consin, and the Connecticut valley." 

The Study of Sections of the United States 

It is difficult to decide just how much of a 
section pupils should study to know definitely 
and exactly, and how much they should read, 
discuss, and know generally. No pupils could 
learn all that is contained in any good geography 
on all of the sections, but all the pupils should 
learn the general treatment of each section. 

For instance, of the Northern Section, pages 
66-77, the class should learn what is con- 
tained on pages 66-67-68, and should have a 
great deal of map study, always with books 
open. The pupils should draw, or trace, or 
have ready-made outline maps of each section, 
and mark upon them such things as (in the North- 
ern Section) the forest area, the corn, wheat, and 



SECTIONS OF THE UNITED STATES 93 

potato region, the herding region, and the coal, 
petroleum, and copper regions. Then, on the 
same map if there is room enough for the 
names, or on another like it, he should mark 
in the parts of the section where they belong, 
the chief industries (p. 68), all these to be obtained 
by study of the text. 

The subdivision of the great Northern Sec- 
tion into Northern Appalachian states (p. 68), 
Ohio Valley and Upper Lake states (p. 72), 
states of the Missouri Basin (p. 75), gives an 
opportunity to classify certain states together 
physically and so to keep better in mind cer- 
tain resemblances in productions and industries 
which are clearly brought out in the paragraph 
treating the subdivision as a whole. 

The study of the individual states should not 
be so close as the general treatment, but may 
be simply read over and discussed, with all 
places located, or sometimes it is a good plan to 
assign in advance a week's work of state treat- 
ments to certain pupils or groups of pupils. Then 
on Monday, for instance, have the children who 
have prepared New York from the text, with 



94 ADVANCED GEOGRAPHY 

such outside reading and extra illustrations as 
they can get, give their talk on the state, all 
the other children listening attentively, with 
books open to maps to locate places named. At 
the close of the recitation have a short written 
paper from all the class except those who pre- 
pared the recitation, following an outline given 
by the teacher. Let the outline demand the 
salient and characteristic features of the state. 
On Tuesday have another state treated by 
another set of children. Keep together all the 
compositions on the states in each section to be 
studied for a review of the section. 

Sometimes instead of written compositions 
have oral recitations from the rest of the class 
at the close of the prepared talk, and have an 
outline map (placed previously on the board) 
filled in by the pupils. 

Do not have individual states studied always 
in the same way, else the very monotony of it 
will cause pupils to get a distaste for the study. 
At the close of a section sum up the study with a 
review calling for the definite knowledge of state 
capitals, one or two of the very important cities 



SECTIONS OF THE UNITED STATES 95 

of each state, and the great industries connected 
with each city and with the state generally. 

When a section has been studied entirely 
through, let the pupils once or twice prepare 
their geography lesson (the home preparation) 
by selecting six, eight, ten, or any number of 
places they would like to see in that section, and 
learning why. They should be able to tell a 
connected story of where they would start from, 
in what order they would visit these places, and 
what particular industries they would see there. 
Have each pupil talk with pointer in hand, 
tracing the journey on a large map. 

At the end of the study of the United States 
pupils should have a very definite knowledge 
of a great deal of the geography of the country; 
its physical features, its forests, its mineral and 
agricultural productions, its industries and the 
regions where they are located, a good many of 
its important cities, their location, and the indus- 
tries connected with them; and they should 
know how to use text, maps, diagrams, and 
illustrations for study, and index and tables at 
the close of the book for reference. 



96 ADVANCED GEOGRAPHY 

Other Countries 

The Correlations and Comparisons at the end 
of each grand division are excellent for oral 
review, for the pupil to study for written 
review, or to select parts from for discussion 
or for composition writing. Sometimes it is 
a good plan to have answers to a whole para- 
graph written in the form of a composition, not 
as answers, but connectedly in sentences, yet 
following the outline given ; for instance, let 
the subject be soil, page 101, or take the first 
two sentences of the next to. the last paragraph 
on the page and use them for a written paper. 

Sometimes, to vary the method of study, let 
pupils write questions on a paragraph of text ; 
then let the class exchange papers and answer 
each other's questions. A general discussion 
should follow of disputed questions and answers. 

Throughout the year, or years, insist more 
and more that pupils shall learn how to* use the 
book and how to become responsible for certain 
kinds of information which it contains and 
wh^itt. is tjAijmtkQ^ to learn and to remember. 




*- 












«5 °,* > 



^ 










XT* A 



,V 



o V 



.0 





o 







•*sSXfc»».'. o ,j* 






DOBBS BROS. ^ 

LIBRARY BINDING 

4AN 1977| 

ST. AUGUSTINE = 



